


boy with the dragon tattoo

by howdoyou_write



Category: Kingsman (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Firefighters, Angst with a Happy Ending, But Not Very Angsty, Established Relationship, M/M, Misunderstandings, One Shot, Smoking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-19
Updated: 2020-11-19
Packaged: 2021-03-10 02:21:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,961
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27636097
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/howdoyou_write/pseuds/howdoyou_write
Summary: Eggsy notices a few suspicious occurrences when he spends the night with Harry. Eggsy tries not to jump to conclusions, but that's more difficult than it sounds.
Relationships: Harry Hart | Galahad/Gary "Eggsy" Unwin
Comments: 6
Kudos: 62





	boy with the dragon tattoo

**Author's Note:**

> so, like many of you, i watched and finished the smoke recently. i am absolutely obsessed with dennis severs. my foreseeable projects are all centered around the idea of eggsy having a huge dragon tattoo on his ass. 
> 
> then i wrote this all in one night. on my first day of quarantine in the year of our lord 2020.

“Hey babe, I’m home!” Eggsy called into the front room of Harry’s flat. His boyfriend was used to him coming by at odd hours, always wanting to see him even if he smelled rank, just got off a shift, and hadn’t slept much in the last few days. Harry would sometimes even have his favorite smokes waiting for him, the slightly more expensive ones that he was never inclined to buy for himself. Harry wasn’t exactly happy about his smoking habit, but Eggsy knew he would sneak one or two after they’d had a few drinks. 

He’d thought about buying Harry his own fancy cigarette case for Christmas, which was coming up in a few weeks, and filling it with the expensive, posh fags that he knew Harry secretly loved. 

Eggsy didn’t hear Harry’s voice ringing through the flat, but he continued to toe off his shoes and hang his tunic up. 

“Harry?” he called, peeking around the corner of the living room and into the kitchen. Lastly, Eggsy made his way upstairs and peeked his head into Harry’s office. The man was nowhere to be found.

Eggsy shrugged, not entirely used to Harry’s absence in his own home. The other man had told Eggsy more than once to make himself at home, so Eggsy chose to believe him and found himself spending many hours in the house without Harry.

He was even considering getting Harry a cat or something, because seriously the man did not seem to have  _ anyone _ here. Like, ever.

Which Eggsy could understand on some level, but on others he thought that Harry had a charming, quaint house in a lovely neighborhood and the man should show his decorative skills (see: dead bugs) off more. Eggsy surely wasn’t the only one that could appreciate them. And Harry did cook pretty damn well, so Eggsy really saw no reason  _ not _ to entertain, at least a little bit. 

Eggsy thought about talking to Harry about it, suggesting they host a dinner party or something, maybe for the New Year even, while he made his way to the bedroom and started to strip out of his clothes. Today hadn’t been awful, he was a little grungy and sweaty but thankfully Eggsy wasn’t covered in soot, or worse, piss. 

He tossed his clothing straight into the hamper, not trying to get another use out of it, especially when he was hopefully not going to have many clothes on at all for the next few days. Harry was supposed to be back from his trip already, but Eggsy had gotten used to the loose sense of punctuality that Harry kept to, so he wasn’t surprised he’d made it back before the other man. 

In fact, Eggsy was looking forward to taking a long, hot, and uninterrupted shower to get all the grunge he’d accumulated over the past few days off, only to hopefully accumulate a bit more of another variety over the next two days. He bent down to pull his pants and trousers off in one go, stepping out of them easily and tossing the heap into the hamper on his way to the bathroom. 

Eggsy went to go turn the shower on, not looking to get his arse frozen with cold water pouring over him, and nearly jumped sky-high at the large, slightly furry arachnid near the drain. Eggsy cursed and yanked himself back.

Something he never shared with many people… He was terrified of spiders. Couldn’t kill them, couldn’t stand to be in the same room as them. He muttered “Fuck this” before grabbing a towel and making his way to the guest bathroom. In theory, he could take a bath instead, but he was getting the willies just thinking about trying to relax in the same room. And he wasn’t about to chance the fucker crawling back up the drain, oh hell no. 

After making his way into the guest bathroom, locking the door, and double-checking the shower for bugs, Eggsy let himself relax and turned on the tap, cranking up the hot water.

That’s when his eyes drifted to the rubbish bin, brows furrowing when he saw something he couldn’t quite explain. A pregnancy test, for one. From the looks of it, when Eggsy took a step closer (without touching the thing, he’s not daft), it was a positive one, as well.

Eggsy tried to brush the encounter off, chiming it up to an excited relative or possibly a friend in need of comfort. He didn’t let his thoughts wander to the known fact that Harry was, is, bi. Eggsy had never had a problem with it before, in fact he found himself swaying back and forth between the genders as well, though he himself preferred to live without labels. All he really needed to know was he was attracted to Harry and not interested in sharing or being shared. 

He had to wonder if his boyfriend felt the same. They’d never had an in-depth conversation about their monogamy, but Eggsy was certain they had discussed being mutually exclusive. Maybe he’d misinterpreted… Or maybe Harry was…

Eggsy cut himself off from those thoughts, physically trying to shake them out of his head. Him and Harry had been seeing each other for a while now, almost a year, and he had no reason to go accusing the man of something this serious without more evidence. 

And besides. He thought Harry and him could work it out, at least. He hoped so.

_____

Laying in bed later that night, fundamentally satisfied after Harry finally got home and they banged it out like there was soon to be a tax write off for condoms, Eggsy let himself relax with Harry by his side. The other man looked satiated and pleased, still slightly flushed and lips swollen and pink. Eggsy couldn’t help but smile.

“What’s that look for?” Harry asked, looking utterly besotted himself. He leaned over a hair to nudge Eggsy, but couldn’t hold back his own smile. 

“Nothin’,” Eggsy sighed. “Just lookin’ at my gorgeous boyfriend.”

Harry laughed and moved his legs over the side of the bed. “No need to get sappy, darling, I’m a sure thing,” Harry replied.

“There’s always next time.”

Harry shot him a look and continued into the bathroom. 

Once Harry shut the door, his phone buzzed a few times on the nightstand. Eggsy wasn’t thinking much when he leaned over to see who they were from, not having any intention of something that would make him question his trust, moreso trying to see if it was something Harry needed to look at immediately. It wasn’t unheard of for Harry to have some sort of work emergency and need to leave. Eggsy was understandably annoyed when it happened, but Harry had been more than willing to make up for what he missed, even if it was just a good night of sleep and some cuddling. 

The texts he saw made him pause. A feminine sounding name (‘Tilde?’) sent Harry a few messages in a row. 

_ Great ‘meeting’ today! ;) _

_ You totally saved my arse.  _

Eggsy sat in confusion for a few minutes while he listened to Harry putter around in the bathroom. When he heard the door start to open, he shifted back onto his side of the bed, pulled the covers over himself, and pretended he fell asleep. 

Fortunately, or unfortunately, Harry didn’t bother him much, simply whispering “goodnight, Eggsy” softly.

Eggsy felt his heart start to break. He didn’t fall asleep for quite a while, opting to stare at the wall in the dark room. 

Eventually, thankfully, he slipped into a dreamless slumber.

_____

Eggsy woke up the next morning blissfully unaware of the red flags he found yesterday for a whole five seconds. The memories came flooding back soon after, causing Eggsy to sigh and fall back in the bed. He had to will himself up and out of bed, which wasn’t uncommon on his day off, but was rather uncommon when he could smell tea and a full fry up his boyfriend made for him waiting downstairs, the only missing element being his presence. 

Eggsy sighed and considered faking an illness, but he knew Harry would be insufferably doting and fussy if Eggsy so much as hinted at a cold. He loved that his boyfriend loved to take care of him, but he also wanted to process his feelings before unleashing them at breakfast.

He forced himself out of bed and plastered on his best fake smile.

_____

Eggsy was never particularly good at hiding his emotions. He could do as good as anyone else, in a pinch, and he didn’t necessarily wear his heart completely on his sleeve, but when he was feeling something strong, there was little hope of others staying in the dark. Especially his squad.

The White Watch had been together for years now, social and work life blending together at times so that they were nearly indistinguishable from one another. They’d all go get pints after work, sometimes hit up a club, and often got together to watch movies and binge eat buttery popcorn. They’d also saved each other’s lives more than once and walked into the face of death on a semi-regular basis, so needless to say they could read each other fairly well.

Even though it was his day off, Eggsy had to come into the station for a crew meeting. Normally he would’ve bitched to high hell for the inconvenience, but he was looking for any excuse to get out of Harry’s house without being suspicious. He needed time to think and hopefully convince himself that he was just jealous or thinking irrationally, that Harry would never do that to him.

His boyfriend was particularly caught off guard because Eggsy had been planning to skip the meeting all along so they could go back to bed, hopefully for the rest of the afternoon, but told him shortly at breakfast that he had to run. Eggsy had made sure to keep his plans for the rest of the day vague, not wanting to corner himself into an evening with Harry when he would probably have worked himself into quite a state by that point. He could already tell Harry thought something was off but was too polite to push Eggsy. 

Eggsy had to refrain himself from hitting his head on the table at thinking about how caring and thoughtful his boyfriend was.  _ Crock o’ shit, probably, _ Eggsy thought in spite. 

As predicted, his watch caught on immediately to the emotion and frustration pouring off Eggsy in waves. A few brave souls asked him what was wrong, but he came up with simple excuses like not sleeping well or breakfast being off. He knew them well enough that he could tell they weren’t buying it.

The meeting was a boring one, mostly about reviewing protocol, reminding everyone to get to work on time and clean up after themselves. It was over in under an hour, which made Eggsy sigh to himself again. The sound caught the attention of Ziggy, who cornered Eggsy on his way out of the station while he was pulling out a smoke. 

He nodded his head at the woman as he lit the cigarette. She gave him a strange look.

“What’s goin’ on up there?” She asked, gesturing to his head.

Eggsy shrugged and took a long drag of his cigarette. “Nothin’,” he lied.

“Bullshit,” Ziggy retorted. “You’ve been in a mood all morning.”

“It’s nothing.”

Ziggy rolled her eyes. “And denial isn’t only a river in Egypt.”

Eggsy scoffed. “Bit overused, innit?” He took another drag, then offered Ziggy one from his pack. She took one and leaned into the lighter when he held the flame out. 

“You up for a pint?” Ziggy asked. She had been on this morning, but was covering a shift for someone else, so she was off duty now. Eggsy shrugged and they started walking.

_____

Halfway through their first pint after some pointless chatter about nothing in particular, Ziggy brought up his mood again.

“So are you going to tell me what’s up?” She asked, maintaining almost intimidating eye contact. Eggsy squirmed under her gaze, but decided another opinion couldn’t hurt.

“Saw some shit on Harry’s phone.”

“Like what?”

“Well,” Eggsy said, pausing to take a long draw of his beer, “first there was a pregnancy test in his bathroom. Alright, weird enough, especially considering we’re both incapable of getting up the duff,” Ziggy nodded in agreement, “but then we was going to bed and he got some texts. From someone named ‘Tilde’ thanking him for saving their arse. Also said they had a good ‘meeting’” Eggsy put air quotes for proper emphasis, “that afternoon.” Eggsy paused. 

“And?”

“Well, I’m trying not to think anything of it,” he looked back at Ziggy, “but Harry told me he was on a business trip the last few days. Was supposed to be home earlier yesterday, but he was later than me.” Eggsy let out a long breath and took another pull of his beer. He set it down on the countertop with a loud thump. 

Ziggy blew a raspberry. “I mean, you’re not  _ wrong _ ,” she said. “It’s definitely a bit suspicious, if you ask me.” She paused. “And I assume you were asking me.”

“Yeah,” Eggsy nodded. He hung his head. “I was kinda hopin’ you would say something else, not gonna lie.”

“Well, it doesn’t mean nothing. He could have a perfectly logical explanation. I wouldn’t get yourself into a tizzy trying to figure it out; you gotta go to the source.”

“Yup,” Eggsy said, “really hoped you wouldn’t say  _ that _ .” He drained the rest of his beer.

_____

Eggsy wandered home a few hours later, stopping himself before he drank too many beers. He’d only had two, taking the time to savor the last one. He chose to walk back instead of taking the tube or trying to hitch a ride with Ziggy, since he needed the time to clear his head. 

In his head, he played the conversation he was about to have with Harry over and over again in his head, trying to prepare for the worst-case scenario. By the time he’d gotten to Harry’s, he’d smoked multiple cigarettes and was simultaneously wound up, ready for a row, but also resigned to defeat.

As much as he’d tried not to get in his own head, he couldn’t help but think of how mismatched he felt like him and Harry were. Whenever they were alone, it wasn’t a problem, but Eggsy felt the eyes lingering on them whenever they were out together in public. He knew they were judging them, especially Eggsy. He looked like a chav on a good day, let alone when he opened his mouth. Harry had never treated him differently, usually accepting and celebrating or encouraging of Eggsy’s less-than desirable upbringing. Harry thought he was brave and noble, or so he said, for bringing himself out of the estates and being able to get his own flat, even if his mum was still in the Estates with his sister, and Eggsy’s flat wasn’t in a much better neighborhood. At least Dean was out of the way after V Day.

He still felt a little embarrassed whenever Harry came over. No matter how much he cleaned, there was always a noticeable grime that stuck to his walls and carpet no matter what. Eggsy did his best not to smoke inside, only giving in when it was truly miserable out, but a stale smell of smoke always hung in the air no matter what he did. He was tidy, especially because he didn’t have many belongings, but he still felt the need to rearrange or something whenever Harry came over because it felt so chaotic and messy compared to Harry’s place. Even if he could afford professional cleaners or the like, Eggsy doubted his flat would look any better. 

Eggsy felt the shame start to creep in, knowing Harry didn’t see Eggsy in this light, but he couldn’t stop them once he started. He’d seen the glaces, stares, and remarks they constantly got. Harry usually took care of any onlookers with pure politeness-veiled spite, working the fact that he was a firefighter into every opportunity and making everyone scurry away. Harry wasn’t ashamed of him, in fact, Eggsy noticed Harry claiming and correcting people most of the time, but sometimes Eggsy swore he looked over at Harry and the other man looked pained. Like Eggsy wasn’t good enough, would never be good enough. 

Eggsy’s nose was running and he was breathing a little hard by the time he got to Harry’s. Try and he might, he still found himself getting worked up. When he got to Harry’s front door, he forced himself to take a few deep breaths and calm down a little, but Eggsy was already bracing himself for pain and rejection. 

_ Sorry, you’re great, but this princess I’m shagging is so much higher in society than you, and you know, I’m not getting any younger.  _

Eggsy shook his head and unlocked the door, opening it. He walked in practically huffing, anger and suspicion, shame burning him to his core. 

Harry looked up from the living room, paper unfolded in his lap, glasses perched on his nose. His eyebrows furled when he saw Eggsy walk in. 

“Eggsy?” Harry said, “what’s the matter, darling?” 

Eggsy couldn’t help himself, the shame spiral he’d flown into taking over. “I think you know!” he exclaimed. 

Harry looked taken aback, folding his paper and setting it aside. He even took his glasses off and held them in his right hand. Standing, he said “Eggsy, I assure you that I have no idea why you’ve come storming into my house like this.” He fixed Eggsy with a look, clearly not amused by not yet upset. 

“You-you,” Eggsy stammered. “You have a pregnancy test! In your bathroom!” Once he started, the words poured out of him, flood gates opening. “Which doesn’t make much sense considering we’re two blokes without uteruses, from my knowledge.” Eggsy took a breath, but jumped back in before Harry had a chance to comment. He still looked a little stunned for words. “And someone called Tilde emailing you about your ‘meeting’” Eggsy put air quotes and a judgemental emphasis on the word, “saying you  _ saved _ her fucking  _ arse _ !”

Harry put two fingers over his nose, pressing in on his pressure points. “Oh my,” Harry says. “I see what this looks like.”

Eggsy didn’t say anything, still fuming and unsure of what Harry is talking about. 

Harry opened his eyes and continued on. “Tilde is a friend, well girlfriend, of a colleague. She wanted to surprise Roxy with the news, so she asked if she could come here.”

“Then why did you hide it from me?”

“Well, to be fair, you’ve not met. And also I had no idea you’d be in the guest bath.”

Eggsy tried to hold his tongue and bite back a scathing retort. “Well why did she text you about it? With a wink!” As the words came out of Eggsy’s mouth, he knew they were starting to sound strained and less logical. 

“Because Tilde is an incredibly sexual person,” Harry stated bodly. “She’s asked no less than half a dozen times if she can have a threesome with us. I’ll spare you some of the more gorey details.”

Eggsy squirmed, feeling relieved at the news and a little horrified. 

“She’s like that with everyone, believe me,” Harry said. “She’s sweedish.”

“The fuck’s that supposed to mean?”

“I don’t know, Eggsy, it’s rhetorical! She’s a bloody princess, after all.”

Eggsy thought he was just imagining things. It was like his horrific inner thoughts were manifesting right before his eyes.

“She’s a princess?” Eggsy said, sounding as small and discouraged as he felt. 

Harry walked over to him and took Eggsy’s hands between his own. 

“Whom I have absolutely no interest in. And who is in a happy, committed relationship with Roxy, who you do know about.” Harry followed his words with a kiss on Eggsy’s knuckles. Eggsy felt himself softening. 

“I swear, Eggsy. I see where you’re coming from, of course, it’s a bit odd for a man who is in a thoroughly committed homosexual relationship to have a positive pregnancy test in his bin. And those texts were misleading. But I swear to you it was nothing. See, I’ll even show you Roxy’s reaction.”

Harry strode over and grabbed his phone. He swiped up on the screen and tapped to Roxy’s thread. He handed the phone to Eggsy and put his hands in the pocket of his wool trousers. “Read as much as you’d like.”

Immediately, Eggsy saw a picture of a well-decorated cake held by a shocked Roxy. Roxy typed  _ You sly fucker! _

Harry had replied  _ A friend in need is a friend, indeed. I’m assuming you’re pleased? _

_ Pleased? I could fly to the fucking moon! _

Harry sent a simple smiling face in return. Eggsy checked the timestamp and saw it was for not three hours earlier. He handed the phone back to Harry, feeling thoroughly embarrassed. 

Eggsy was blushing and feeling more ashamed than when he walked in. As he’d thought, Harry was just behaving like an absolute gentleman and even acknowledged that he could see why Eggsy was suspicious. Eggsy felt tears blink into his eyes. 

“‘M sorry, Harry.” He sniffled. “Just got kinda panicked. I always worry about… about our, y’know…”

“Age difference?” Harry supplied.

“Sorta, but more of the…” Eggsy gestured vaguely. 

“Ah,” Harry said. “Our difference in class.”

“Well… yeah.”

Harry slid his phone into his trousers and picked Eggsy’s hands up again. 

“Eggsy,” he spoke. “I think you’re one of the most remarkable young men I’ve ever had the pleasure of meeting. I’ve known since I met you that you were different, and I’ve only solidified my beliefs since. It doesn’t matter what other people think of you, Eggsy, I will always enjoy your company,” Harry paused, “in whatever capacity I can take it.”

If Eggsy thought too hard to himself, it sure sounded like Harry was trying to give him an out. Which he had no intention of taking. 

“Harry Hart,” Eggsy spoke, frustration creeping into his voice, “what are you trying to say?”

Harry sighed. “I’m not the youngest beast in the barn [????], Eggsy. I would understand if, sooner or later, you became… unsatisfied in some respect.” Harry held up his hand when Eggsy began to protest. “You may not feel so now, and no I’m not talking about sexually, but I am considerably older than you. I would not fault you for moving onto… greener pastures.”

“Harry. You know I would never do that. Never leave you like that, and you’re not that old. Still keep up with me when we go hiking or running. Still keep up with me when we’re more horizontal.” 

Harry rolled his eyes at that. “I know we do now, but I’m just saying. It might be a more limited time that we have together.”

“And I could die tomorrow, Harry.” Eggsy stated. “No, seriously. I’m a firefighter, I throw myself into dangerous shit every day.  _ Willingly _ . Even if I don’t die in a fire, there’s a good chance all the smoke is going to do some damage one day.”

Harry sighed. “I guess you’re right.” He leaned in and rested his forehead on Eggsy’s. “I just don’t wish for you to ever be unhappy, my boy.”

Eggsy cradled Harry’s jaw in his palm and pressed a kiss to his lips. “And I never will be, as long as I’m with you.” Eggsy could feel Harry’s smile as he went in for another kiss. 

**Author's Note:**

> please find me on [tumblr](eltonlongjohn.tumblr.com)! comments and kudos are always appreciated!!!


End file.
